Working Mom vs. Stay At Home Mom

Being a working mom is tough. Not because it is better or worse than a parent who stays home but because personally it has challenged me in more ways than I expected. 

I have the privilege of working with an amazing organization. Help Me Grow is a free parent information line that connects families to resources, child development information, and helps to answer parenting questions. My team  are not only great colleagues but  also my friends. Although work is great, I both love and dislike being a working mom.

 If only I could make my desk space a little play pen and bring her with me each day, I mean who wouldn't mind seeing a chubby baby everyday?

Tell me this face doesn't make you smile!

My Reality

I work  9-5 M-F, my husband works nights so he can stay home with the baby. Among all the craziness with our schedules this is what works for our little family.

Why Women May Choose To Work  and Why I Choose To Work  

In many families today, some women work because financially they need or choose to support their homes alongside their husbands. Some mothers have no choice due to family circumstances. Some mothers go back to work out of fear or risk of loosing career opportunities, and some mothers simply choose to and want to go back to work after having their babies.

Whatever a mother's circumstance may be as to why they work or not, should be respected, because its a personal one to make.

My choice to work is a combination of all the above. For now it feels right for me to work.

It was by no means an easy decision. I remember the day before I went back to work I bawled and bawled, and into the first month I would come home and it felt like she didn't know me, because I was gone all day.

Things since then have gotten much better (emotionally) and I am starting to look at joys I see with our family's decision for me to work.

 What I have learned about myself while working away from home  

• My husband and daughter have bonded. I know that he  needed time to figure out his own way of parenting 
• I needed to learn to be OK with his way of doing things to work as a team, and not underestimate him as a new dad
• I have become more conscious of how I spend my time at home with my family 
• I learn from other working parents around me how they manage to balance life 
• I respect and admire parents who stay home. Most of the time my husband only gets a shower and something to eat once I walk through the front door 
• I can go on and on and there is still so much learning to come 

This quote from an article titled "Working Mothers" is what I hope to help accomplish in my family as a working mom...until the time comes that I get to be home more with her:

"A child’s development is influenced more by the emotional health of the family, how the family feels about the mother’s working, and the quality of child care. A child who is emotionally well adjusted, well loved, and well cared for will thrive regardless of whether the mother works outside the home."

What are some ways that families can feel supported while one (or both) parents are working? 

Have Any Parenting Questions? Call us! Help Me Grow Utah 801-691-5322